DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Application
The following is a non-Final Office Action. In response to Examiner's communication of June 22, 2026, Applicant, on May 22, 2026, amended claims 1, 7, 8, 11, 17, & 18 and canceled claims 9 & 19. Claims 1-8, 10-18, & 20 are now pending in this application and have been rejected below.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on May 22, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant's amendments are not sufficient to overcome the 35 USC 101 rejections set forth in the previous action. Therefore, these rejections are maintained below.
Applicant's amendments render moot the 35 USC 103 rejections set forth in the previous action. Therefore, new grounds of rejection necessitate by Applicant’s amendment are set forth below.
Response to Arguments - 35 USC § 101
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the 35 USC 101 rejections have been fully considered, but they are now moot in view of new grounds for rejection necessitated by Applicant’s amendments.
Applicant argues that the claims do not recite an abstract idea because the claims recite "assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction,” this element involves physical assembly of solar tables in one or more centralized factories, and cannot be practically performed in mind. Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Pursuant to 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, in order to determine whether a claim is directed to an abstract idea, under Step 2A, we first (1) determine whether the claims recite limitations, individually or in combination, that fall within the enumerated subject matter groupings of abstract ideas (mathematical concepts, certain methods of organizing human activity, or mental processes), and (2) determine whether any additional elements beyond the recited abstract idea, individually and as an ordered combination, integrate the judicial exception into a practical application. 84 Fed. Reg. 52, 54-55. Next, if a claim (1) recites an abstract idea and (2) does not integrate that exception into a practical application, in order to determine whether the claim recites an “inventive concept,” under Step 2B, we then determine whether any of the additional elements beyond the recited abstract idea, individually and in combination, are significantly more than the abstract idea itself. 84 Fed. Reg. 56.
That is, under prong 1 of Step 2A, a claim recites an abstract idea if the claim recites one or more limitations, that individually or in combination, that fall within one of the enumerated groupings of abstract ideas. Aside from the ”deploying” step, which is an additional element beyond the abstract idea addressed under prong 2 of Step 2A and Step 2B, as discussed below, each of the remaining steps, including “assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction,” manage the commercial interactions and business relations of a factory of a solar panel construction manufacturer and solar panel installation of a solar panel installation business that tracks and manages solar field construction by assembling solar panels in a factory, tracking and collecting delivery of solar panels and status at the solar construction site, processing and relaying the tracked and collected data, and generating insights based on the data to manage the construction site, and thus, the claims, including the features referred to by Applicant, recite a certain method of organizing human activity, which is an abstract idea. Furthermore, for the reasons detailed below, other than the “assembling” and “deploying” steps, a human can mentally perform the claimed steps by observing information regarding delivery/installation, performing evaluations and using judgment, and outputting the results of the evaluation and judgment, and thus, under prong 1 of Step 2A, the claims recite a mental process, which is an abstract idea. Moreover, even if the argued limitation “assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction” is analyzed as an additional element beyond the recited abstract idea, this element provides nothing more than a general link to a field of use, namely a general link to the field of use of a solar field under construction.
More particularly, under prong 1 of Step 2A, claim 1, and similarly claims 2-8, 10-18, & 20, recite “tracking and managing a solar field under construction comprising: assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction; … track at least delivery and installation of the solar tables; collecting … on-site data in real-time, periodically, or on demand; … processing the collected on-site data … to generate edge processed data for operations tracking and management; relaying at least part of the collected on-site data and the edge processed data to … a data model of the solar field under construction, … comprises dynamic status information for the solar field; and processing, through data pipelines …, at least part of the collected on-site data and the edge processed data to generate insights.” Claims 1-8, 10-18, & 20, in view of the claim limitations, recite the abstract idea of tracking and managing a solar field under construction comprising by assembling solar tables in a central factory, tracking delivery and installation of solar tables, collecting data regarding solar field site, processing the collected data to generate data for tracking and managing operations of the site, relaying the collected and processed data to model the solar field construction, and processing the collected and processed data to generate insights.
A claim recites certain methods of organizing human activity when the claim recites fundamental economic principles or practices (including hedging, insurance, mitigating risk), commercial or legal interactions (including agreements in the form of contracts, legal obligations, advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors, business relations), managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions). 84 Fed. Reg. at 52. As a whole, each of the above elements manage the commercial interactions and business relations of a factory of a solar panel construction manufacturer and solar panel installation of a solar panel installation business that tracks and manages solar field construction by assembling solar panels in a factory, tracking and collecting delivery of solar panels and status at the solar construction site, processing and relaying the tracked and collected data, and generating insights based on the data to manage the construction site, and thus, the claims recite a certain method of organizing human activity.
Further, a claim recites mental processes when the claim recites concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion), wherein if the claim, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers the claim being practically performed in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components, then the claim is in the mental process category. 84 Fed. Reg. 52 n.14. Here, as a whole, in view of the claim limitations, but for the computer components and systems performing the claimed functions, the broadest reasonable interpretation of the recited tracking delivery and installation of solar tables, collecting data regarding solar field site, processing the collected data to generate data for tracking and managing operations of the site, relaying the collected and processed data to model the solar field construction, and processing the collected and processed data to generate insights could all be reasonably interpreted as a human making observations of data regarding site, a human performing evaluations based on the observations and using judgement to process the data, a human outputting the collected and processed data manually and/or with a pen and paper to provide to a model of the solar field construction, and a human evaluating the collected and processed data and using judgement to process the data and generate insights; therefore, the claims recite mental processes.
Accordingly, since the claims recite a certain method of organizing human activity and mental processes, the claims recite an abstract idea under the first prong of Step 2A.
Applicant argues that claims 1 and 11 are clearly related to a practical application of tracking and managing a solar field under construction because the components of solar table assembly at centralized factories, field sensors deployments over the solar field to track solar table delivery and installation, interaction among filed sensors, an edge data center, a cloud clearly and adequately make the claims as a practical application of tracking and managing a solar field under construction. Examiner respectfully disagrees.
As noted above, under prong 2 of Step 2A, we determine whether any additional elements beyond the recited abstract idea, individually and as an ordered combination, integrate the judicial exception into a practical application. 84 Fed. Reg. 52, 54-55. However, but for the generic computer components performing the functions referred to by Applicant, the recitations of “tracking and managing a solar field under construction,” “assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction,” “to track at least delivery and installation of the solar tables” are not additional elements beyond the recited abstract idea, but rather, these elements referred to by Applicant are part of and directed to the recited abstract idea addressed above under prong 1 of Step 2A because they are part of the management of the commercial interactions and business relations of a factory of a solar panel construction manufacturer and solar panel installation of a solar panel installation business that tracks and manages solar field construction and a human can make observations of data regarding site and perform evaluations based on the observations and using judgement to track and process the data, and thus, “tracking and managing a solar field under construction,” “assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction,” and “to track at least delivery and installation of the solar tables” recite at least a certain method of organizing human activity and the limitations “tracking and managing a solar field under construction” and “to track at least delivery and installation of the solar tables” also recite a mental process, which are abstract ideas. Under prong 2 of Step 2A, the claims only recite the additional elements beyond the recited abstract idea are the recitations of “[a] method … comprising,” “deploying a plurality of field sensors over the solar field,” “by the plurality of sensors,” “via an on-site network, to an edge data center,” “at the edge data center,” “from the edge data center to a cloud,” “a digital twin,” and “at an analytics and inference engine in the cloud in conjunction with the digital twin” in claim 1; however, individually and when viewed as an ordered combination, and pursuant to the broadest reasonable interpretation, each of the additional elements are generic computing elements recited at high level of generality implementing the abstract idea on a computer (i.e. apply it), and thus, are no more than applying the abstract idea with generic computer components, which is not sufficient to integrate an abstract idea into a practical application. Further, these elements merely generally link the abstract idea to a field of use. Moreover, while the limitation “assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction,” as recited in claim 1 and similarly claim 11, is part of the recited abstract idea because it is part of the management of the commercial interactions and business relations of a factory of a solar panel construction manufacturer and solar panel installation of a solar panel installation business, even when analyzed as an additional element beyond the recited abstract idea, this element provides nothing more than a general link to a field of use, namely a general link to the field of use of a solar field under construction.
Applicant argues the claims recite significantly more than the recited abstract idea because the claims recite “assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction; … relaying at least part of the collected on-site data and the edge processed data from the edge data center to a cloud, the cloud comprises a digital twin as a data model of the solar field under construction, the digital twin comprises dynamic status information for the solar field; and processing, through data pipelines at an analytics and inference engine in the cloud, at least part of the collected on-site data and the edge processed data in conjunction with the digital twin to generate insights,” and such a combination of elements, deploying field sensors over the solar field to track at least solar table delivery and installation, collecting data, transmitting data via an on-site network to edge data center, and generating edge processed data, is NOT well-understood routine, or conventional, evidenced by distinction from prior art with details presented in the following argument with respect to the claim rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103. Examiner respectfully disagrees.
As noted above, under Step 2B, we then determine whether any of the additional elements beyond the recited abstract idea, individually and in combination, are significantly more than the abstract idea itself. 84 Fed. Reg. 56. However, but for the generic computer components performing the functions referred to by Applicant, the recitations of “assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction; … relaying at least part of the collected on-site data and the edge processed data … a data model of the solar field under construction, … comprises dynamic status information for the solar field; and processing, through data pipelines …, at least part of the collected on-site data and the edge processed data in conjunction … to generate insights” are not additional elements beyond the recited abstract idea, but rather, these elements referred to by Applicant are part of and directed to the recited abstract idea addressed above under prong 1 of Step 2A because they are part of the management of the commercial interactions and business relations of a factory of a solar panel construction manufacturer and solar panel installation of a solar panel installation business that tracks and manages solar field construction and a human can make observations of data regarding site and perform evaluations based on the observations and using judgement to process the data and generate insights.
Under Step 2B, the claims only recite the additional elements beyond the recited abstract idea of “[a] method … comprising,” “deploying a plurality of field sensors over the solar field,” “by the plurality of sensors,” “via an on-site network, to an edge data center,” “at the edge data center,” “from the edge data center to a cloud,” “a digital twin,” and “at an analytics and inference engine in the cloud in conjunction with the digital twin” in claim 1; however, individually and when viewed as an ordered combination, and pursuant to the broadest reasonable interpretation, each of the additional elements are generic computing elements recited at high level of generality implementing the abstract idea on a computer (i.e. apply it), and thus, are no more than applying the abstract idea with generic computer components, which is not sufficient to amount to significantly more than an abstract idea. MPEP 21006.05(f). Further, these elements also merely generally link the abstract idea to a field of use. Moreover, while the limitation “assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction,” as recited in claim 1 and similarly claim 11, is part of the recited abstract idea because it is part of the management of the commercial interactions and business relations of a factory of a solar panel construction manufacturer and solar panel installation of a solar panel installation business, even when analyzed as an additional element beyond the recited abstract idea, this element provides nothing more than a general link to a field of use, namely a general link to the field of use of a solar field under construction.
Response to Arguments - Prior Art
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the prior art rejections have been fully considered, but they are not persuasive and now moot in view of new grounds for rejection necessitated by Applicant’s amendments.
Applicant argues that none of Trivedi and Brulo teaches assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction. This argument is now moot in view of new grounds for rejection necessitated by Applicant’s amendments.
Applicant argues that none of Trivedi and Brulo teaches processing, through data pipelines at an analytics and inference engine in the cloud in conjunction with the digital twin, at least part of the collected on-site data and the edge processed data to generate insights. Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Trivedi, et al. (US 20220358434 A1), hereinafter Trivedi, discloses “processing, through data pipelines at an analytics and inference engine in the cloud in conjunction with the digital twin, at least part of the collected on-site data and the edge processed data to generate insights” in paragraphs [0130], [0138], wherein the framework 200 of the IoT platform 125 comprises a number of layers including a data pipeline layer 215, wherein the data pipeline layer 215 includes one or more components for data cleansing/enriching, data transformation, data calculations/aggregations (i.e., processing on-site data through data pipelines at an analytics and inference engine in the cloud), and e.g., cleansed data is run through enterprise-specific digital twins (i.e., in conjunction with the digital twin), which can include a reliability advisor containing process models to determine the current operation and the fault models to trigger any early detection and determine an appropriate resolution, optimization advisor that integrates real-time economic data with real-time process data, selects the right feed for a process, and determines optimal process conditions and product yields (i.e. to generate insights), [0143], the digital twin architecture of the IoT platform 125 can use a variety of modeling techniques can include, e.g., rigorous models, fault detection and diagnostics (FDD), descriptive models, predictive maintenance, prescriptive maintenance, process optimization, and/or any other modeling technique, [0106], [0129], IoT platform 125 provides an enterprise-wide, top to bottom view, displaying the status of processes, assets, and supports end-to-end capability to execute digital twins against process data and to translate the output into actionable insights.
That is, the pipelines 215 and digital twins of the cloud 105 disclosed Trived process the collected onsite data and edge data to generate insights as claimed by the pipelines 215 of the cloud receiving and cleansing the data from the edge devices and the digital twin of the cloud 105 receiving the cleansed data and generating actionable insights.
Applicant argues that there is no motivation to combine Trivedi and Brulo for claim rejection because Trivedi and Brulo are not analogous fields of invention since they are classified under different CPC symbols and nowhere does Trivedi even disclose installation of solar panels. Examiner respectfully disagrees.
In order for a reference to be proper for use in an obviousness rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103, the reference need not be in classified under the same CPC symbol, but rather, in order for a reference to be proper for use in an obviousness rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103, the reference must be analogous art to the claimed invention, and a reference is analogous art to the claimed invention if: (1) the reference is from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention (even if it addresses a different problem); or (2) the reference is reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor (even if it is not in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention). See MPEP 2141.01(a). In this case, Trivedi and Brulo are analogous fields of invention because both address the problem of tracking sensor data regarding assets including solar panels, which is in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention and reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor. See MPEP 2141.01(a).
At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in the system of Trivedi the ability to deploy a plurality of field sensors over the solar field under construction to track at least delivery of solar tables assembled in one or more centralized factories and installation of the solar tables, as taught by Brulo, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the combination would produce the predictable results of deploying a plurality of field sensors over the solar field under construction to track at least delivery of solar tables assembled in one or more centralized factories and installation of the solar tables. Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Trivedi with the aforementioned teachings of Brulo in order to produce the added benefit of orchestrating control of installation of solar panels using control data. [0118].
Further, regarding Applicant’s assertion that nowhere does Trivedi even disclose installation of solar panels, the recitation of referenced by Applicant of “for tracking and managing a solar field under construction comprising” is a recitation of intended use, and a recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. Here, the cited prior art is capable of performing the intended use of for tracking and managing a solar field under construction, and thus, the cited references are not patentably distinguishable from the claimed invention.
Nonetheless, contrary to Applicant’s assertions, Trivedi does indeed disclose installation of solar panels in paragraphs [0005], [0012], [0110], wherein Trivedi discloses a method that includes a receiving an extension request of an onboarding of an new asset, which provides the ability to model new assets, [0107], [0125], wherein an industrial plant, facility, buildings, warehouses, real estate facilities, or any other type of entity and/or the like contains the onboarded new assets, and [0214], wherein the one or more onboarded new assets are solar panel assets. Here, by disclosing a method that includes receiving a request an extension request to onboard a new asset, such as a solar panel, to an industrial plant, building, or real estate, Trivedi is discloses installation of solar panels and is analogous and reasonably pertinent to the claimed invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-8, 10-18, & 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claims (claim 1, and similarly claims 2-8, 10-18, & 20) recite “tracking and managing a solar field under construction comprising: assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction; … track at least delivery and installation of the solar tables; collecting … on-site data in real-time, periodically, or on demand; … processing the collected on-site data … to generate edge processed data for operations tracking and management; relaying at least part of the collected on-site data and the edge processed data to … a data model of the solar field under construction, … comprises dynamic status information for the solar field; and processing, through data pipelines …, at least part of the collected on-site data and the edge processed data to generate insights.” Claims 1-8, 10-18, & 20, in view of the claim limitations, recite the abstract idea of tracking and managing a solar field under construction comprising by assembling solar tables in a central factory, tracking delivery and installation of solar tables, collecting data regarding solar field site, processing the collected data to generate data for tracking and managing operations of the site, relaying the collected and processed data to model the solar field construction, and processing the collected and processed data to generate insights.
As a whole, these limitations manage the commercial interactions and business relations of a factory of a solar panel construction manufacturer and solar panel installation of a solar panel installation business that tracks and manages solar field construction by assembling solar panels in a factory, tracking and collecting delivery of solar panels and status at the solar construction site, processing and relaying the tracked and collected data, and generating insights based on the data to manage the construction site, and thus, the claims recite a certain method of organizing human activity. Further, as a whole, in view of the claim limitations, but for the computer components and systems performing the claimed functions, the broadest reasonable interpretation of the recited tracking delivery and installation of solar tables, collecting data regarding solar field site, processing the collected data to generate data for tracking and managing operations of the site, relaying the collected and processed data to model the solar field construction, and processing the collected and processed data to generate insights could all be reasonably interpreted as a human making observations of data regarding site, a human performing evaluations based on the observations and using judgement to process the data, a human outputting the collected and processed data manually and/or with a pen and paper to provide to a model of the solar field construction, and a human evaluating the collected and processed data and using judgement to process the data and generate insights; therefore, the claims recite mental processes. Further, with respect to the dependent claims, aside from the additional elements beyond the recited abstract idea addressed below under the second prong of Step 2A and 2B, the limitations of dependent claims 2-8, 10, 12-18, & 20, recite similar further abstract limitations to those discussed above that narrow the abstract idea recited in the independent claims because, aside from the generic computer components and systems performing the claimed functions the limitations of claims recite mental processes that can be practically performed mentally by observing, evaluating, and judging information mentally and/or with a pen and paper. Accordingly, since the claims recite a certain method of organizing human activity and mental processes, the claims recite an abstract idea under the first prong of Step 2A.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application under the second prong of Step 2A. In particular, the claims recite the additional elements beyond the recited abstract idea of “[a] method … comprising,” “deploying a plurality of field sensors over the solar field,” “by the plurality of sensors,” “via an on-site network, to an edge data center,” “at the edge data center,” “from the edge data center to a cloud,” “a digital twin,” and “at an analytics and inference engine in the cloud in conjunction with the digital twin” claim 1, “the plurality of field sensors comprise one or more of: one or more Internet of things (IoT) devices; one or more Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags that are attached to equipment, materials, or personals within the solar field; one or more GPS sensors; one or more cameras; and one or more microphones” in claims 2 and 12, “the on-site network is a mesh network” in claims 3 and 12, “digital command center to perform edge computing” in claims 5 and 15, “via a web app, a mobile app, and/or data streams” in claims 10 and 20, and “[a] system … comprising: an edge data center,” “via an on-site network,” “a plurality of field sensors deployed over the solar field,” “the edge data center processes,” “a cloud storage in a cloud,” “a digital twin in the cloud,” “an analytics and inference engine in the cloud,” and “with the digital twin” in claim 11; however, individually and when viewed as an ordered combination, and pursuant to the broadest reasonable interpretation, each of the additional elements are computing elements recited at high level of generality implementing the abstract idea on a computer (i.e. apply it), and thus, are no more than applying the abstract idea with generic computer components. In addition, these elements merely generally link the abstract idea to a field of use. Furthermore, while the limitation “assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction,” as recited in claim 1 and similarly claim 11, is part of the recited abstract idea, even when analyzed as an additional element beyond the recited abstract idea, this element provides nothing more than a general link to a field of use, namely a general link to the field of use of a solar field under construction. Moreover, aside from the aforementioned additional elements, the remaining elements of dependent claims 2-8, 10, 12-18, & 20 do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because these claims merely recite further limitations that provide no more than simply narrowing the recited abstract idea.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception under Step 2B. As noted above, the aforementioned additional elements beyond the recited abstract idea, as an order combination, are no more than mere instructions to implement the idea using generic computer components (i.e. apply it), and further, generally link the abstract idea to a field of use, which is not sufficient to amount to significantly more than an abstract idea; therefore, the additional elements are not sufficient to amount to significantly more than an abstract idea. Additionally, these recitations as an ordered combination, simply append the abstract idea to recitations of generic computer structure performing generic computer functions that are well-understood, routine, and conventional in the field as evinced by Applicant’s Specification at [0054] (describing the embodiments of the present disclosure includes non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium that has computer code thereon for performing various computer-implemented operations that may be may be of the kind known or available to those having skill in the relevant arts, wherein example tangible computer-readable media include, for example: magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CDs and holographic devices; magneto-optical media; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store or to store and execute program code, such as ASICs, PLDs, flash memory devices, other non-volatile memory devices (such as 3D XPoint-based devices), and ROM and RAM devices, and examples of computer code include machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that are executed by a computer using an interpreter), which describes the computer components with well-known and commercially available components at such a high level of generality, that the specification does not support the components being anything beyond well-understood, routine, and conventional embodiments. In addition, as an ordered combination, these elements amount to generic computer components performing repetitive calculations, receiving or transmitting data over a network, electronic record keeping, storing and retrieving information in memory, and presenting offers, which, as held by the courts, are well-understood, routine, and conventional. See MPEP 2106.05(d); July 2015 Update, p. 7. Furthermore, while the limitation “assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction,” as recited in claim 1 and similarly claim 11, is part of the recited abstract idea, even when analyzed as an additional element beyond the recited abstract idea, this element provides nothing more than a general link to a field of use, namely a general link to the field of use of a solar field under construction. Moreover, aside from the aforementioned additional elements, the remaining elements of dependent claims 2-8, 10, 12-18, & 20 do not transform the recited abstract idea into a patent eligible invention because these claims merely recite further limitations that provide no more than simply narrowing the recited abstract idea.
Looking at these limitations as an ordered combination adds nothing additional that is sufficient to amount to significantly more than the recited abstract idea because they simply provide instructions to use a generic arrangement of generic computer components and recitations of generic computer structure that perform well-understood, routine, and conventional computer functions that are used to “apply” the recited abstract idea. Thus, the elements of the claims, considered both individually and as an ordered combination, are not sufficient to ensure that the claims as a whole amount to significantly more than the abstract idea itself. Since there are no limitations in these claims that transform the exception into a patent eligible application such that these claims amount to significantly more than the exception itself, claims 1-8, 10-18, & 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as being directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 2, 5-8, 10-12, 15-18, & 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Trivedi, et al. (US 20220358434 A1), hereinafter Trivedi, in view in of Campbell, et al. (US 20230029665 A1), hereinafter Campbell, and in further view of Brulo, et al. (US 20240030863 A1), hereinafter Brulo.
Regarding claim 1, Trivedi discloses a method for tracking and managing a solar field under construction comprising ([0005]):
… solar tables … for installation in the solar field under construction ([0005], [0012], a method includes a receiving an extension request comprising an indication of an onboarding of an asset, [0214], in an example interface to identify one or more assets, a table 1012 that lists a plurality of rows, each associated with a solar panel asset, [0107], an industrial plant, building and/or the like contains a vast amount of assets, [0125], one or more enterprises 160a-160n each including one or more edge devices 161a-161n, wherein herein, enterprises 160a-160n represent any type of entity, facility, such as, buildings, plants, warehouses, real estate facilities, or any other type of entity, facility);
deploying ([0005], [0012], a method includes a receiving an extension request comprising an indication of an onboarding of an asset) a plurality of field sensors over the solar field ([0107], an industrial plant, building and/or the like contains a vast amount of assets and an associated automation system for the assets can be complex and may comprise tens of thousands of data points of sensors to process time-series data of the assets in order to diagnose various conditions of the asset system, [0214], in an example interface to identify one or more assets, a table 1012 that lists a plurality of rows, each associated with a solar panel asset, [0125], one or more enterprises 160a-160n each including one or more edge devices 161a-161n, wherein herein, enterprises 160a-160n represent any type of entity, facility, such as, buildings, plants, warehouses, real estate facilities, or any other type of entity, facility) under construction … ([0005], [0012], a method includes a receiving an extension request comprising an indication of an onboarding of an asset);
collecting, by the plurality of sensors, on-site data in real-time, periodically, or on demand ([0012], [0020], the method comprises determining of the output data including accessing real-time data associated with the asset, [0126], the edge devices 161a-161n can be IOT devices that include assets, sensors, and/or any other devices that are connected to the network 110 for collecting and sending information);
transmitting the collected on-site data via an on-site network, to an edge data center ([0127]-[0128], edge gateways 162a-162n include one or more communication interfaces for communicating with the edge devices 161a-161n, wherein the edge gateways 162a-162n also include a processor and memory for storing and executing program instructions to facilitate data processing, and in one or more embodiments, the edge gateways 162a-162n are configured to receive data from the edge devices 161a-161n and process the data);
processing the collected on-site data at the edge data center to generate edge processed data for operations tracking and management ([0128], in one or more embodiments, the edge gateways 162a-162n are configured to receive data from the edge devices 161a-161n and process the data prior to sending the data to the cloud 105, and accordingly, in one or more embodiments, the edge gateways 162a-162n include one or more software modules or components for providing data processing services and/or other services or methods of the present disclosure, wherein each edge gateway 162a-162n includes edge services 165a-165n that include hardware and software components for processing the data from the edge devices 161a-161n);
relaying at least part of the collected on-site data and the edge processed data from the edge data center to a cloud ([0127]-[0128], the edge gateways 162a-162n include one or more communication interfaces for communicating with the cloud 105 via network 110, and in one or more embodiments, the edge gateways 162a-162n are configured to receive data from the edge devices 161a-161n and process the data prior to sending the data to the cloud 105, [0121], [0124]-[0125], the cloud 105 includes one or more computer systems 120 that form a so-called “Internet-of-Things” or “IoT” platform 125, which receive data from components of the edge 115 via network 110, wherein the edge 115 includes one or more enterprises 160a-160n each including one or more edge devices 161a-161n and one or more edge gateways 162a-162n), the cloud ([0121], [0124]-[0125], the cloud 105 includes computer systems 120 that form the IoT platform 125) comprises a digital twin as a data model ([0143], the digital twin architecture of the IoT platform 125 can use a variety of modeling techniques, including, e.g., rigorous models, fault detection and diagnostics (FDD), descriptive models, predictive maintenance, prescriptive maintenance, process optimization, and/or any other modeling technique, [0130], [0138], the IoT platform 125 includes a data pipeline layer 215 that pre-processes the received data and executes advanced data cleansing, and the cleansed data is run through enterprise-specific digital twins) of the solar field under construction ([0214], in an example interface to identify one or more assets and/or related data includes a plurality of rows associated with a particular identified asset 1020, 1021, 1022, and 1023, with each row associated with a solar panel asset), the digital twin ([0130], [0138], [0143]) comprises dynamic status information ([0121], [0124]-[0125], the cloud 105 including the computer systems 120 that form the IoT platform 125 receives data from components of the edge 115, [0012], [0020], the method comprises determining of the output data including accessing real-time data associated with the asset, [0126]-[0128], the edge devices 161a-161n can be IOT devices that include assets, sensors, and/or any other devices that are connected to the network 110 for collecting and sending information, the edge gateways 162a-162n are receive data from the edge devices 161a-161n prior to sending the data to the cloud 105) for the solar field ([0214], in an example interface to identify one or more assets and/or related data includes a plurality of rows associated with a particular identified asset 1020, 1021, 1022, and 1023, with each row associated with a solar panel asset); and
processing, through data pipelines at an analytics and inference engine in the cloud in conjunction with the digital twin, at least part of the collected on-site data and the edge processed data to generate insights ([0130], [0138], the framework 200 of the IoT platform 125 comprises a number of layers including a data pipeline layer 215, wherein the data pipeline layer 215 includes one or more components for data cleansing/enriching, data transformation, data calculations/aggregations (i.e., processing on-site data through data pipelines at an analytics and inference engine in the cloud), and e.g., cleansed data is run through enterprise-specific digital twins (i.e., in conjunction with the digital twin), which can include a reliability advisor containing process models to determine the current operation and the fault models to trigger any early detection and determine an appropriate resolution, optimization advisor that integrates real-time economic data with real-time process data, selects the right feed for a process, and determines optimal process conditions and product yields (i.e. to generate insights), [0143], the digital twin architecture of the IoT platform 125 can use a variety of modeling techniques can include, e.g., rigorous models, fault detection and diagnostics (FDD), descriptive models, predictive maintenance, prescriptive maintenance, process optimization, and/or any other modeling technique, [0106], [0129], IoT platform 125 provides an enterprise-wide, top to bottom view, displaying the status of processes, assets, and supports end-to-end capability to execute digital twins against process data and to translate the output into actionable insights).
While Trivedi discloses all of the above, including solar tables … for installation in the solar field under construction; and
relaying at least part of the collected on-site data and the edge processed data from the edge data center to a cloud, the cloud comprises a digital twin as a data model of the solar field under construction, the digital twin comprises dynamic status information for the solar field (as above), Trivedi does not appear to necessarily disclose the remaining elements of the following limitations, which however, are taught by further teachings in Campbell.
Campbell teaches assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction ([0026]-[0027], [0029], in a centralized solar table assembly and installation for large-scale solar systems process, resources are brought to a construction site 201 for a large-scale solar systems and initially processed, these resources are delivered to one or more assembly factories 202 where a coordinated and centralized solar table assembly process is performed, and assembled solar tables and equipment are moved from a factory 202 to a point of installation 220); and
… a data model of the solar field under construction, … comprises dynamic status information for the solar field ([0043]-[0044], a real-time site analyzer 410 receives information about a pre-calculated solar table installation process 350 that had been previously calculated 450, examples of real-time resource information may include a delay in the delivery of certain components used to assemble solar tables or equipment failure at the construction site, which may render an installation processed to be less ideal when it was based on a timely delivery of the components and/or all of the equipment functioning, real-time site analyzer 410 identifies and correlates this real-time information to the underlying processes within the overall installation process, and based on this correlation, the installation process may be modified and an updated centralized solar table installation process 420 is generated).
Trivedi and Campbell are analogous fields of invention because both address the problem of tracking data regarding assets including solar panels. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in the system of Trivedi the ability to assemble solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction, as taught by Campbell, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the combination would produce the predictable results of assembling solar tables in one or more centralized factories for installation in the solar field under construction, as claimed. Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Trivedi with the aforementioned teachings of Campbell in order to produce the added benefit of provide an improved process of resource management during the process of constructing large-scale solar systems that improves cost and efficiency as conditions change at the construction site. Abstract.
Further, while Trivedi discloses deploying a plurality of field sensors over the solar field under construction …;
collecting, by the plurality of sensors, on-site data in real-time, periodically, or on demand (as above), Trivedi does not appear to necessarily disclose the remaining elements of the following limitations, which however, are taught by further teachings in Brulo.
Brulo teaches deploying a plurality of field sensors ([0118], cloud computing system 110 may obtain output data (e.g., sensor data, GPS data, etc.) from any of the transportation vehicles 20, the unloading machinery 18, and the installation vehicles 22 to orchestrate control, [0167], [0170], [0183], an Autonomous Working Vehicle (AWV) 700 representing the installation vehicle 22 to facilitate installation of the solar panel 16 includes the sensors 712 may include at least one of cameras, proximity and position sensors, location devices (e.g., GPS) to track a position of the AWV 700 (GPS, XYZ, grid), position of an object in the surrounding environment (e.g., solar panels 16), [0231], [0233]-[0234], an Autonomous Delivery Vehicle (ADV) 2800 representing the transportation vehicle 20 includes a tracking device 2805 to provide location information (e.g., GPS coordinate, vehicle bearings, vehicle positional metrics) from the sensors 2810) over the solar field under construction ([0339], [0342], [0334], [0347]-[0348], fig. 94, the ADV 5005 determined to be closet to a loading site arrives at the loading dock to receive the solar panels, transmits a signal, to the solar field management 5102 including the location and/or the position of the ADV 5005, is loaded with the solar panels, arrives at the install site, and communicates to the solar field management 5102 that they are ready to install solar panels, [0364], fig. 95, solar panel management 5012 monitor the amount of solar panels 16 present on the ADV 5005 (e.g., using one or more sensors) and determine if the ADV 5005 has another solar panel 16 ready for installation);
collecting, by the plurality of sensors, on-site data in real-time, periodically, or on demand (0231], [0233]-[0234], an Autonomous Delivery Vehicle (ADV) 2800 representing the transportation vehicle 20 includes a tracking device 2805 to provide location information (e.g., GPS coordinate, vehicle bearings, vehicle positional metrics) from the sensors 2810, [0339], [0342], [0334], [0347]-[0348], fig. 94, the ADV 5005 determined to be closet to a loading site arrives at the loading dock to receive the solar panels, transmits a signal, to the solar field management 5102 including the location and/or the position of the ADV 5005, is loaded with the solar panels, arrives at the install site, and communicates to the solar field management 5102 that they are ready to install solar panels, [0364], fig. 95, solar panel management 5012 monitor the amount of solar panels 16 present on the ADV 5005 (e.g., using one or more sensors, such as a camera or scale) and determine if the ADV 5005 has another solar panel 16 ready for installation, [0167], [0170], [0183], an Autonomous Working Vehicle (AWV) 700 includes the sensors 712 may include at least one of cameras, proximity sensors, tracking devices, position sensors, gyroscopes, location devices (e.g., a GPS) to track a position of the AWV 700 (GPS, XYZ, grid), a position of a specific component of the AWV 700, or a position of an object in the surrounding environment (e.g., solar panels 16), [0359], [0361], process 5400 includes moving the solar panel 16 to an install location e.g., the ARA 5015 may move from the location proximate to the ADV 5005 (e.g., the initial location of the solar panel 16) to a location of the install site (e.g., a clamp location for the given solar panel), and using one or more sensors (e.g., a camera), the ARA 5015 may confirm that the solar panel 16 has been successfully released, [0366], when the ARA 5015 reaches the installation position, the ARA 5015 places the solar panel 16 in the installation position).
Trivedi and Brulo are analogous fields of invention because both address the problem of tracking sensor data regarding assets including solar panels. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in the system of Trivedi the ability to deploy a plurality of field sensors over the solar field under construction to track at least delivery of solar tables assembled in one or more centralized factories and installation of the solar tables, as taught by Brulo, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the combination would produce the predictable results of deploying a plurality of field sensors over the solar field under construction to track at least delivery of solar tables assembled in one or more centralized factories and installation of the solar tables. Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Trivedi with the aforementioned teachings of Brulo in order to produce the added benefit of orchestrating control of installation of solar panels using control data. [0118].
Regarding claim 2, the combined teachings of Trivedi, Campbell, and Brulo teaches the method of claim 1 (as above). Further, Trivedi discloses wherein the plurality of field sensors comprise one or more of: one or more Internet of things (IoT) devices; one or more Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags that are attached to equipment, materials, or personals within the solar field; one or more GPS sensors; one or more cameras; and one or more microphones ([0126], edge devices 161a-161n are “IoT devices” which include assets, sensors, cameras, and/or any other devices that are connected to the network 110 for collecting and sending information).
Regarding claim 5, the combined teachings of Trivedi, Campbell, and Brulo teaches the method of claim 1 (as above). Further, Trivedi discloses wherein the edge data center is a digital command center to perform edge computing ([0128], in one or more embodiments, the edge gateways 162a-162n are configured to receive data from the edge devices 161a-161n and process the data prior to sending the data to the cloud 105, and accordingly, in one or more embodiments, the edge gateways 162a-162n include one or more software modules or components for providing data processing services and/or other services or methods of the present disclosure, wherein each edge gateway 162a-162n includes edge services 165a-165n that include hardware and software components for processing the data from the edge devices 161a-161n, [0121], [0124]-[0125], the cloud 105 includes one or more computer systems 120 that form a so-called “Internet-of-Things” or “IoT” platform 125) related to safety task ([0106], [0129], the IoT platform is an extensible platform that is portable for deployment in any cloud or data center environment for providing an enterprise-wide, top to bottom view, displaying the status of safety).
Regarding claim 6, the combined teachings of Trivedi, Campbell, and Brulo teaches the method of claim 1 (as above). Further, Trivedi discloses wherein processing the collected on-site data at the edge data center comprises data aggregation, data compression, or data encryption ([0126]-[0128], edge devices 161a-161n represent any of a variety of different types of devices, wherein the edge gateways 162a-162n include devices for facilitating communication between the edge devices 161a-161n and the cloud 105 via network 110, and the edge gateways 162a-162n also include a processor and memory for storing and executing program instructions to facilitate data processing, wherein the edge gateways 162a-162n are configured to receive data from the edge devices 161a-161n and process the data prior to sending the data to the cloud 105).
Regarding claim 7, the combined teachings of Trivedi, Campbell, and Brulo teaches the method of claim 1 (as above). Further, Trivedi discloses further comprising: dispatching, in real-time or predetermined intervals, the insights to one or more users ([0110]-[0111], [0117], a foundation application leverages cloud-based services of an Internet-of-Things (IoT) platform enables visibility of performance metrics at asset site-level (e.g., a particular building, warehouse, etc.) as well as across all asset sites for the particular enterprise, wherein a visualization is provided at an electronic interface of the foundation application, wherein the visualization is a dashboard visualization that includes a plurality of widgets associated with a predefined core service for providing data insights for one or more assets and comprise a visualization of real-time data associated with the one or more assets).
Regarding claim 8, the combined teachings of Trivedi, Campbell, and Brulo teaches the method of claim 7 (as above). Further, Trivedi discloses wherein the analytics and inference engine further accesses past and current project data to generate the insights [0130], [0138], the framework 200 of the IoT platform 125 comprises a number of layers including a data pipeline layer 215, wherein the data pipeline layer 215 includes one or more components for data cleansing/enriching, and e.g., cleansed data is run through enterprise-specific digital twins, which can include a reliability advisor containing process models to determine the current operation and the fault models to trigger any early detection and determine an appropriate resolution, [0143], the digital twin architecture of the IoT platform 125 can use a variety of modeling techniques can include, e.g., rigorous models, fault detection and diagnostics (FDD), descriptive models, predictive maintenance, prescriptive maintenance, process optimization, and/or any other modeling technique).
Regarding claim 10, the combined teachings of Trivedi, Campbell, and Brulo teaches the method of claim 7 (as above). Further, Trivedi discloses wherein the insights are dispatched via a web app, a mobile app, and/or data streams ([0110]-[0111], [0117], a foundation application leverages cloud-based services of an Internet-of-Things (IoT) platform enables visibility of performance metrics at asset site-level (e.g., a particular building, warehouse, etc.) as well as across all asset sites for the particular enterprise, wherein a visualization is provided at an electronic interface of the foundation application, wherein the visualization is a dashboard visualization that includes a plurality of widgets associated with a predefined core service for providing data insights for one or more assets and comprise a visualization of real-time data associated with the one or more assets, [0151], those skilled in the art will appreciate the present disclosure can be practiced with computer system configurations, including: Internet appliances, hand-held devices (including personal digital assistants (“PDAs”)), wearable computers, mobile phones).
Regarding claims 11, 12, 15-18, & 20, these claims are substantially similar to claims 1, 2, 5-8, & 10, respectively, and are, therefore, rejected on the same basis as claims 1, 2, 5-8, & 10. While claims 11, 12, 15-18, & 20 are directed toward a system, Trivedi discloses a system as claimed. [0041], [0150].
Claims 3, 4, 13, & 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Trivedi, et al. (US 20220358434 A1), hereinafter Trivedi, in view in of Campbell, et al. (US 20230029665 A1), hereinafter Campbell, and in further view of Brulo, et al. (US 20240030863 A1), hereinafter Brulo, and Cooner (US 20200027096 A1), hereinafter Cooner.
Regarding claim 3, the combined teachings of Trivedi, Campbell, and Brulo teaches the method of claim 1 (as above). Further, while Trivedi discloses all of the above, including wherein the on-site network is a … network ([0127], edge gateways 162a-162n include devices for facilitating communication between the edge devices 161a-161n and the cloud 105 via network 110. For example, the edge gateways 162a-162n include one or more communication interfaces for communicating with the edge devices 161a-161n and for communicating with the cloud 105 via network 110. According to various embodiments, the communication interfaces of the edge gateways 162a-162n include one or more cellular radios, Bluetooth, WiFi, near-field communication radios, Ethernet, or other appropriate communication devices for transmitting and receiving information), Trivedi does not expressly disclose the remaining elements of the following limitation, which however, is taught by Cooner.
Cooner teaches wherein the on-site network is a mesh network ([0320], the “Edge” is the “Internet of Things” (IoT for short) front-line capturing raw data used by the rest of the IoT system captured by embedding sensors, data can then be passed to a “Router” and/or “Gateway” that can provide some basic data analytics (parsing raw data), wherein “Routers” can be thought of as local grid or mesh networks whereby implementations such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, WiFi, ANT, OpenWare, LoRa, Sigfox, or other short to mid range wireless transmissions are used to communicate between Sensor Devices and Gateways).
Trivedi and Cooner are analogous fields of invention because both address the problem of transmitting IoT data, including sensor data, regarding assets, including solar panels. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in the system of Trivedi the ability for the on-site network to be a mesh network, as taught by Cooner, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the combination would produce the predictable results of the on-site network being a mesh network. Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Trivedi with the aforementioned teachings of Cooner in order to produce the added benefit of improving incident management and emergency response coordination, operational efficiencies, quality of service, up-times and reduce costs of operation in all infrastructure related areas. [0025], [0132].
Regarding claim 4, the combined teachings of Trivedi, Campbell, and Brulo teaches the method of claim 1 (as above). Further, while Trivedi discloses all of the above, including wherein the collected on-site data is transmitted to the edge data center ([0127]-[0128], edge gateways 162a-162n include one or more communication interfaces for communicating with the edge devices 161a-161n, wherein the edge gateways 162a-162n also include a processor and memory for storing and executing program instructions to facilitate data processing, and in one or more embodiments, the edge gateways 162a-162n are configured to receive data from the edge devices 161a-161n and process the data), Trivedi does not expressly disclose the remaining elements of the following limitation, which however, is taught by Cooner.
Cooner teaches wherein the collected on-site data is transmitted to the edge data center in a standardized format ([0024], [0364], the Internet of things creates an opportunity to measure, collect and analyze an ever-increasing variety of behavioral statistics, wherein the “Edge” tier of an IoT architecture should consider using an application tier protocol for communicating with servers in an IoT Platform via a standard such as IoTivity from the Open Connectivity Foundation, the AllJoyn Framework from the AllSeen Alliance, or any other IoT specific protocol for application architecture, and such protocols will allow for Sensor Devices to be registered with an IoT Platform and then have them communicate one way or bi-directionally with the IoT Platform during operation).
Trivedi and Cooner are analogous fields of invention because both address the problem of transmitting IoT data, including sensor data, regarding assets, including solar panels. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in the system of Trivedi the ability for the collected on-site data to be transmitted to the edge data center in a standardized format, as taught by Cooner, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the combination would produce the predictable results of the collected on-site data being transmitted to the edge data center in a standardized format. Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Trivedi with the aforementioned teachings of Cooner in order to produce the added benefit of improving incident management and emergency response coordination, operational efficiencies, quality of service, up-times and reduce costs of operation in all infrastructure related areas. [0025], [0132].
Regarding claims 13 & 14, these claims are substantially similar to claims 3 & 4, respectively, and are, therefore, rejected on the same basis as claims 3 & 4. While claims 13 & 14 are directed toward a system, Trivedi discloses a system as claimed. [0041], [0150].
Conclusion
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Asmari, et al. (US 20240190009 A1) disclosing systems and methods for installing solar panels that includes a central controller to receive sensor data from the one or more sensors of the sensor arrays including GPS modules, of panel delivery carrying/delivery robots and panel setting/placement robots. Abstract, [0069], [0072].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES A GUILIANO whose telephone number is (571)272-9859. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10:00 am - 6:00 pm.
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CHARLES GUILIANO
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3623
/CHARLES GUILIANO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3623
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